Posts Tagged ‘singapore’

Japanese-inspired and serving an array of colourful eclairs and gourmet yogurt parfaits, Karafuru (Japanese for colourful!) is the latest to-go cafe for instagram-worthy desserts!

There was a period of time when I was cray cray over Windowsill Pies, so imagine how happy I am to find out that Chef Michael Liu (ex-Windowsill Pies creator) is the man behind the unique, one-of-a-kind menu!

Priced between $6 to $7, each slightly savoury choux is carefully baked before being hand-piped with smooth velvety creams. Karafuru’s eclairs are lighter, fluffier, and more dainty than its French counterparts so expectations need to be managed as some may think the flavours are muted and the pastry too soft.

Traditional Japanese flavours get a contemporary facelift in the form of an unusual ume shiso, complete with a real shiso leaf! If you like choya, try it! Otherwise, the other “boozy” eclairs include marc de champagne, irish cream and black forest.

Matcha Azuki ($6)matcha crème, azuki beans, matcha sables

Cafe Au Lait ($6)milk coffee creme, marzipan, dark chocolate sables

My personal favourites are the matcha azuki and cafe au lait, as both have strong and distinct flavours. Plus, they go well with UCC coffee (for K) and Lupicia tea (I highly recommend peach momo)!

A generous swirl of freshly made yogurt soft serve sits atop a plate surrounded by a spread of moist souffle cake, wobbly pudding, Japanese dango balls and thin buttery langue de chat… That’s Karafuru’s spin on the classic Japanese parfait!

My heart broke when I was told that the matchazuke parfait was sold out (go early, especially on weekends!) so I settled for gianduja (chocolate will never fail) and the more interesting daizu with white miso souffle, soybean pudding and kinako sauce. I didn’t fancy every element (like those chewy dango balls) but what won my heart were the creamy soft serve, dense “souffle” (quite a misnomer) cakes and the hazelnut orange crisp! Now I can’t wait to try the matcha parfait!

The Catch Seafood Restaurant puts the foodie mantra “have food will travel” to a good test. It’s seriously the most remote, distant, far–flung (and whatever synonyms of ulu you can think of) restaurant we’ve ever been to in Singapore! With the aid of GPS and my bff Google map, we finally navigated to Johore Battery. Yes, the Singapore historical site because that’s where The Catch is located!

Other than being a restaurant, The Catch also brings in live seafood from overseas (ask for a tour around the outdoor giant tanks!) and supplies them to hotels/restaurants. That’s why the food here is so affordable without much markup. The menu offers a vast variety of seafood delicacies (deep sea Alaskan king crabs and lobsters!) and classic local favourites – I counted more than 127 items!

Chef Marinated Cold Japanese Cucumber ($5++)冰镇黄瓜

Since there’s only K to divide and conquer with me, I was very careful when “curating” our dinner menu, making sure that I picked dishes which I know we will like as long as they are properly executed by the chef. From the appetizer section, we had a refreshing cold dish of marinated crunchy Japanese cucumber and then ditched the healthy plan for tender deep fried cuttlefish lightly seasoned with salt and pepper. Both whetted my appetite for more!

Deep Fried Cuttlefish with Pepper & Salt($8++)椒盐鲜鱿须

And “more” came in the form of these delicious golden discs of eggplant coated with salted egg yolk! Soft and creamy on the inside, crispy and thin batter on the outside, they were amazing – strong and rich in flavour but not overwhelmingly so!

Crispy Brinjal with Salted Egg Yolk ($6++)黄金茄子

K loves his soups, regardless of how crazy hot the weather is nowadays. The double-boiled peppery fish soup with bunashimeji mushroom and bamboo pith ($28++) was the highlight for him (and even for me, a non-soup fan!) — pure cuddly comfort liquid food in a bowl! Sorry I don’t have a good pic of it but just imagine how warm and soothing it is to the soul, ahhhhh~

We ordered a couple of crabs prepared in extremely different styles. Steamed red flower crab may not as meaty as its counterparts but it was so naturally sweet and juicy! And if you are a carb junkie, that silky smooth egg white and decadent crab roe will suffice as toppings for multiple servings of plain rice! Then of course we had to try The Catch’s take on the famous chilli crab. Won’t say it’s the best in Singapore but it was fresh, big and super satisfying. Especially the thick fragrant gravy which my spoon kept going back for!

Chilli Crab served with Dough Fritter or Bun (seasonal price)辣椒炒（油条或馒头）

Unless you are the type with a personal vendetta against artificial truffle oil, I’d strongly recommend the sauteed lobster meat with truffle oil on egg white (do you see the theme here — seafood, egg, seafood, and more egg)! Simple yet elegant. Dinner went very well but ended on a weak note — desserts. The double boiled hashima with lotus seeds was tooth-achingly sweet and we left them untouched. Lesson learnt: stick to the savouries! Now I have about 101 dishes left to tackle!

Named after the address of Mandarin Orchard Hotel – 333 Orchard Road – Triple Three usually offers a spread of Japanese-inspired international buffet but from now till 26 April 2015, it’s game on for The Great Big American Buffet!

At the launch event on 9 April, we were lucky to witness the making of Singapore’s first giant burger! Over 60kg of beef, 100 whole eggs, 15kg of flour and 5kg of onions were used to set a new mark in the Singapore Book of Records for the Largest Hamburger in Singapore. The burger measured 82cm by 40cm and weighed approximately more than 100kg! That’s more than twice my weight omg. It was rather scary and so unreal. But genuine it was as the mammoth burger was later sliced and distributed to all guests at the event after the SBOR certificate was presented to the hotel for the achievement, well done!

As for the restaurant’s Great Big American Buffet which is available only during dinner and Sunday brunch, expect iconic American dishes made from air-flown ingredients from the good ole USA. Nowadays it takes a lot to impress me because I still believe buffets earn their bucks from selling quantity than quality. But K and I were pleasantly surprised – not only was the selection extensive, the standard was pretty darn high for a buffet. We loved that there were several cooking stations where chefs cooked our food a la minute – freshly sliced sashimi, grilled Boston lobsters, New England clam chowder, hand carved oven-roasted US prime beef, fajitasand tacos, mini sliderswith Monterey Jack cheese and so much more (you must try the whole roasted halibut – I went back for it thrice)!

Desserts were definitely not an afterthought over here. Classic American sugary treats include New York cheesecake, berry trifle, chocolate fudge, blackforest cake, tri-chocolate cream pie and pecan pie. Then there’s also the liquid chocolate fondue (seems to be a must-have at any self-respecting buffets these days), opera cake, mousse, ice cream and even cute little molten chocolate cakes! There’s nothing quite like an awesome sweet finish yeah (spot the American slang ha).

The Great Big American Buffet
Price: $108++ (adult) / $42++ (child)
Promotion: Citibank card holders are entitled to 50% off for every second diner!

I don’t like sweet crepes made of plain flour but I do love the savoury buckwheat ones! Sadly, they are not easy to find in Singapore as creperies are so rare here. Enter Le Comptoir, my current favourite go-to place for buckwheat crepes (or galettes, their French name). The edges of their crepes were wonderfully crispy and delicate while the center remained soft but not soggy under the weight of the toppings. I chose Kao San Road – a Thai inspired crepe with prawns, egg, juicy mangoand plenty of raw bean sprouts. It may sound funky but I thoroughly enjoyed the unique combination! Chase The Spicesis Le Comptoir’s take on the Indian classic chicken tikka masala and oh boy, the accompanying small pot of harmless looking chilli saucewas so potent and spicy that it burnt my tongue and made my eyes tear immediately! Not joking and so thankful that this was all K’s. Alrighty, enough said, I can’t wait to go back for more!

No doubt TheTiramisu Herohas very cute decor but I guess it’s more style than substance? Tiramisu in a jar has pretty packaging but so-so taste. Mudpie is literally a frozen block of chocolate ice cream. Don’t get me wrong, they were not crappy but neither did they give that “wow, so nice!” feeling…